Ecclestone in talks to return F1 to Argentina
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| Bernie Ecclestone |
We have reported this year that figures in the South American country are interested in organizing a grand prix, but F1 chief executive Ecclestone has told them the Autodromo Juan y Oscar Galvez in Buenos Aires, not used for F1 since 1998, is no longer up to scratch.
The 78-year-old Briton told Germany's DPA news agency at Valencia: "We are in discussions about it. Things probably won't be in place in time for 2010 but we are in talks about it."
05/22/09 Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's commercial rights holder, is in talks with Argentine government officials to bring the sport back to the South American country. The last Formula One race in Argentina was 1998, an event won by Michael Schumacher.
"I'm talking to people in Argentina. We've just started talking," Ecclestone said Friday from Monaco, where the next race of the season is being held Sunday.
Asked if the Mexican resort of Cancun might also host another Latin American race, Ecclestone replied: "I don't know."
In recent years, F1 has moved away from its traditional base in Europe, filling its schedule with cash-rich races in the Middle East and Asia. A race in Argentina would be logistically convenient and dovetail with the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.
"Yes, we are trying to bring Formula One," Sergio Massa, Argentine government chief of staff, said Friday in the newspaper Critica.
The newspaper said the venue would probably be a street circuit in the Atlantic resort city of Mar del Plata, which offers plenty of lodgings